Like this:

It’s the night before trash day. That means it’s time to go through the fridge.

I love this task. It’s my own version of food rescue. Not because I typically find unidentifiable objects – but more because I find leftovers that got pushed to the back and will narrowly miss the garbage can.

There is usually the squishy peach or the nearly moldy strawberries. Both of these items can be salvaged. Cut off the bad (if moldy) and keep all the squishy. Throw in a container into the freezer and I’m going to save on next week’s smoothie ingredients.

Fruit Smoothie

There is typically a leftover protein – anything from a random pork chop (less than 5 days old – health rule!) or even boiled eggs – that I can turn into tomorrow’s lunch.

And my favorite part is quite possibly throwing out last week’s mistakes. Those leftover cheese tortellini that no one liked – trash. The end of the loaves of bread – now moldy – feed the ducks out back. The two leftover pancakes that no one ever ate – garbage.

It’s a fresh start. It’s making right the past week’s wrongs. It’s the impetous to start a grocery list for the following week. A chance to reward the kid who complained the least this week about meals – ‘hey, what would you like next week for dinner one night’.